Animating display motion

ABSTRACT

Navigating on a display includes providing a navigation control operable to change a viewable portion of a page of information on a display from a first view to a second view. In response to operation of the navigation control, the display is animated to create an appearance of motion as the viewable portion of the page of information changes from the first view to the second view in response to operation of the navigation control.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Application Ser. No.60/365,197, filed on Mar. 19, 2002 and entitled “Displaying Content on aDisplay in Column Format,” U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/365,161, filedon Mar. 19, 2002 and entitled “Control and Correction of DisplayNavigation,” U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/365,160, filed on Mar. 19,2002 and entitled “Limited Display Device Page Scrolling,” and U.S.Application Ser. No. 60/368,988, filed on Apr. 2, 2002 and entitled“Animated Display,” all of which are herein incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following description relates generally to a viewing and navigationaid for displaying information on an electronic device having limiteddisplay capability.

BACKGROUND

Web pages and other electronic documents generally are formatted forviewing and navigation in display windows of standard-sized or oversizeddisplays, such as, for example, in a display window on a monitor for adesktop computer. The user of the computer can view the entire Web pageon one screen display or can easily scroll a short distance to viewother portions of the Web page. However, when content is displayed on anelectronic device having a display window with smaller dimensions, suchas, for example, the display window of a personal digital assistant(“PDA”) only a small portion of the Web page is displayed. As a result,the rendered document may be difficult to read.

SUMMARY

In one general aspect, navigating on a display includes providing anavigation control operable to change a viewable portion of a page ofinformation on a display from a first view to a second view. The displayis animated to create an appearance of motion as the viewable portion ofthe page of information changes from the first view to the second viewin response to operation of the navigation control.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Forexample, the navigation control may include a screen icon that changesthe display from the first view to the second view. A first screen iconmay correspond to the first view and a second screen icon may correspondto the second view. The first view may include a first discrete area onthe page of information and the second view may include a seconddiscrete area on the page of information. Actuation of the first screenicon may position the viewable portion on the page of information toview the first discrete area and actuation of the second screen icon mayposition the viewable portion on the page of information to view thesecond discrete area.

The page of information may include more than one column of information.Actuating a screen icon that corresponds to a column of information mayresult in showing the corresponding column of information on thedisplay. Animating the display may include shifting the viewable portionon the page of information on the display in a horizontal direction.

Reformatting may include reformatting the page of information into morethan one logical column with each logical column having a correspondingscreen icon. Operation of the navigation control may include actuatingthe screen icon to view the corresponding logical column. The navigationcontrol may include a mouse, a stylus, a touchscreen, or voice control.

Animating the display may include slowly scrolling the display to givethe display an appearance of slow motion, illustrating a visible portionof the page of information moving continuously on the display from thefirst view to the second view, drawing a line from the first view to thesecond view, gradually shifting content on the page of information fromthe first view to the second view, or opening a window on the displaythat shows a reference marker moving from the first view to the secondview. The page of information may include a Web page coded in HTML.

The animation may be defined by a user control. The user-defined controlmay allow selection of a time interval to change the viewable portion ofthe page of information from the first view to the second view,selection of a constant velocity at which to change the viewable portionof the page of information from the first view to the second view, orselection of an acceleration at which to change the viewable portion ofthe page from the first view to the second view. The velocity or theacceleration may be variable or constant during the change in theviewable portion of the page from the first view to the second view.

Implementations of the techniques described may include a method orprocess, an apparatus or system, or computer software on acomputer-accessible medium. The techniques may be used in conjunctionwith devices such as, for example, PDAs, telephones, including wirelessand web phones, handheld computers, monitors, games, and electronicbooks. The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will beapparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1D are screen shots of a page on display windows of varyingdimensions.

FIG. 2 illustrates a display window superimposed onto a page.

FIG. 3 illustrates a display window superimposed onto a column ofinformation from a page.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrates reformatting of a page.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method of reformatting a page.

FIG. 6 illustrates a display window and pen stylus superimposed onto apage.

FIG. 7 illustrates a display window with navigation buttons.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate display windows superimposed onto a page.

FIGS. 9 and 10 each illustrate a display window superimposed onto apage.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a method of navigating on a display window.

FIGS. 12, 13, 14A and 14B each illustrate a display window superimposedonto a page.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart of a method of constraining the scrolling ofinformation on a display window.

FIG. 16 illustrates a display window superimposed onto a page.

FIGS. 17A and 17B each illustrate a display window and a stylus.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a computer and communications system.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Pages coded according to hypertext markup language (“HTML”) are designedfor display in display windows of different sizes. On smaller displays,a width of a display window often corresponds to a width of a displayminus a width of a window frame and a width of a vertical scroll bar,and may be constrained to be no larger. On larger displays, the width ofa display window may constitute a smaller portion of the entire width ofthe display. In some cases, a display window may constitute the entiretyof the display (i.e., there may be no window frame or scroll bar). Inother cases, the display window may be purposefully sized to besubstantially smaller than the overall size of the display. For example,a user of a desktop system with a large display may open a small displaywindow to view a particular page.

Typically, a page expands or shrinks to match the width of the displaywindow. FIG. 1A illustrates a page 100 in a wide display window 105having a window frame 106 and a scroll bar 107. The display window 105may be, for example, the window that would be displayed on the monitorof a desktop computer. As shown, the page 100 expands to fit the windowwidth 108.

FIG. 1B shows the page 100 on a device having a smaller display window110. As shown, the page width is reduced to fit the width of the displaywindow 110 by reducing the width of columns 115, 120 and 125 presentedin the display window 100 relative to the width of corresponding columns130, 135 and 140 in the display window 105. In particular, the centercolumn 120 in the display window 110 is substantially narrower than thecorresponding center column 135 in the display window 105.

The width of the columns may only be reduced until a minimum width forthe page is reached. FIG. 1C shows the page 100 in a display window 145that is narrower than the established minimum width of the page 100 suchthat the page 100 exceeds the bounds of the display window 145 and onlya portion of the page 100 is displayed by the display window 145. Asshown, the entire width of the center column 150 is displayed, whileonly portions of the left column 155 and the right column 160 aredisplayed. The display window 145 also includes a horizontal scroll bar165 and a vertical scroll bar 170 for use in selecting and viewing thecolumns and the portions thereof that are displayed.

In some cases, the display window is narrower than the width of a singlecolumn. For example, FIG. 1D shows the page 100 in a display window 175of a portable electronic device, such as, for example, anInternet-enabled cellular telephone. As shown, only a portion of asingle column 180 is displayed. As a result, the user must scroll backand forth horizontally, using, for example, a scroll bar 185, to readeach line of text.

FIG. 2 illustrates a display window 200 superimposed onto the page 100.The display window 200 is representative of the display of, for example,a PDA. Since the page and column are each larger than the display window200, the user must scroll back and forth to read each line of text. PDAbrowsers may use various reformatting methods to enhance the readabilityof the page. Reformatting may include scaling down images, text size,and other page components.

FIG. 3 shows the page 100 reformatted as a single column 300. Inparticular, the columns of the page 100 are stacked to form the singlecolumn 300, the width of the column 300 is limited to the width of thedisplay window 200, and word wrapping is used to providecontinuity/readability. The display window 200 stays centered on thecolumn as the user scrolls down the page to read the text.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show that a page 400 (FIG. 4A) having elements 402, 404,406 and 408 of differing widths and sized to fit a wide window width 410may be reformatted as a page 415 (FIG. 4B) having elements 417, 419, 421and 423 with widths corresponding to the width 425 of a narrow display(e.g., a PDA display). The elements 417, 419, 421 and 423 are readablecolumns of information that each fit within the width 425 of the displaywindow or can be reduced to a width that does not exceed the width ofthe display window 425. The elements 417, 419, 421 and 423 are alignedto correspond with the topology of the page 400. Thus, even though thepage 415 exceeds the viewing boundaries of the display window, the usercan view various portions of the page 415 with a better sense of theorientation of the content on the page 415 and can navigate on the page415 more easily. Each column of text can be read without requiring theuser to scroll back and forth horizontally. Instead, the user scrollsdown as if reading a newspaper column.

Reformatting a page requires identification of the page topology fromthe page format coding. As shown in FIG. 4, a common HTML page topologyincludes a header 430 with no logical columns, a body including one ormore logical column elements 402, 404, 406 and 408, and a colophon 435with no logical columns. Other variations of this topology include aheader, a first body having N columns, another header, a second bodyhaving M columns, with M being the same as or different from N, and acolophon; a header, multiple bodies, and a colophon; a header, a body,and no colophon; no header, a body, and no colophon; or a header, nobody, and no colophon.

The topologies described above have some common features. For example,the headers usually do not contain long paragraphs of text. Thus,headers seldom need to be reformatted for the display window of the PDAviewing device. In the event that the header is wider than the displaywindow, navigation through the header is not difficult for the user.Similarly, the colophon usually does not contain long paragraphs of textand may be easily navigated. Typically, the body or bodies are laid outin one or more columns. The columns can be constrained to the windowwidth to enhance readability, as described with respect to FIGS. 3, 4Aand 4B. Based on these topologies, most HTML pages are readilyreformatted into constrained sets of logical columns, with no columnexceeding the display width.

Referring to FIG. 5, a process 500 for enabling viewing of a page on adisplay includes detecting the page layout (step 505), comparing thelayout to the dimensions of the display window (step 510), andreformatting the page into aligned columns that are viewable on thedisplay (step 515). In one implementation, the page layout is detected(step 505) by separating the layout of the page into components and thenanalyzing those components. The page coding may be identified torecognize formatting codes. For example, HTML code includes identifiableheader, body, or table tags. Once the HTML tags are identified, the pagemay be recoded in a language other than HTML for easier viewing on thesmall display window.

The width of each logical column is less than or equal to the displaywindow width. The logical columns may be produced by comparing the widthof each column of the page to a width of the display window andestablishing a new column width that does not exceed the display windowwidth. Typically, the new column width is smaller than the originalcolumn width. However, in some implementations, a column that isnarrower than the display window width may be widened to have a newwidth that does not exceed the display window width. The logical columnsthen are aligned for viewing on the display.

When the display is part of a client of a client/host architecture, thehost may be notified of the display window size from informationresiding at the client or residing at the host. For example, the hostmay be notified upon establishment of a connection between the clientand the host, at time intervals after establishing the connectionbetween the client and the host, or after any change in the displaywindow size. The host then may reformat the page based on the displaywindow size prior to delivery to the client. Alternatively, the clientmay perform the reformatting.

Typically, PDA navigation is performed by using scroll bars to move onor between pages of information on the display.

Referring to FIG. 6, another common PDA navigation feature is thecapability to scroll the display window by placing a stylus 600 on thedisplay window 605 and then dragging the stylus 600. However, such“touch-and-drag” scrolling can result in information 610 that ispositioned in the display window 605 but is difficult to view or readsince the user may inadvertently navigate to a position where only aportion of a column or an image is visible in the PDA display window605.

Referring to FIG. 7, to aid user navigation to view a desired textcolumn, a display window 700 includes small icons 705, 710, and 715 thatrepresent navigation buttons. Each of navigation buttons 705, 710 and715 represents a logical column of the page currently being viewed. Thenavigation buttons 705, 710 and 715 provide the user with a graphicalrepresentation of the number of logical columns 700 available on thepage. In other implementations, the navigation buttons correspond tocolumns of predetermined absolute or relative position within the page(e.g., leftmost column, rightmost column, left adjacent column, rightadjacent column or center column). Each button also is used to properlyposition the display window 700 on the corresponding column of text whenthe user selects the icon. For example, referring to the tri-columndisplay of FIG. 8A, when the user selects the left-most navigationbutton 705, the window 700 is positioned on the left-most or firstlogical column 805 of a page 800. Referring to FIG. 8B, when the userselects the central navigation button 710, the window 700 is positionedon the second logical column 810 of the page 800. Referring to FIG. 8C,when the user selects the right-most navigation button 715, the window700 is positioned on the third or right logical column 815 of the page800.

The number of navigation buttons can vary according to the number oflogical columns. For example, if a page displayed in the window 700 hasjust one column, then the display includes one column navigation icon.If the page being displayed has two columns, then the display includestwo column navigation icons. Depending upon the display limitations ofthe window, any number of icons can be displayed to correspond with thenumber of columns. When the element displayed in the window is one thathas no logical column, such as, for example, a header or a colophon, theicons for the following or preceding logical columns may be displayeddepending on the user's preference.

As the number of logical columns increases, the user has more optionsfor jumping discretely between columns. This can cause the user tobecome disoriented concerning the position of the page relative to thedisplay window, which may result in the user selecting an incorrectscrolling direction to view other parts of the page. For example,referring to FIG. 9, the user may begin viewing a page 900 by selectinga first column 905 of columns 905, 910 and 915 for display in the window920. The user then may decide to jump to the third text column 915 toview the information in that column. Subsequently, the user may decideto return to the previously viewed first column 905. However, since theappearance of the display window 920 changed instantaneously when theused jumped discretely between the text columns 905 and 915, the usermay not recall the position of the previously-viewed text columnrelative to the currently-displayed column.

Referring to FIG. 10, as the user navigates to various positions on thepage 900, animation effects 925 are provided to give the user a bettersense of direction and position. The animation effects add a sense ofmotion to the content being displayed. For example, in oneimplementation, when the user actuates a navigation button 930 to moveto a new location on the page 900, the user sees the page 900 slowlyscrolling across the display window, as represented by the series ofarrows 935 in FIG. 10, until the new location is centered on the displaywindow 920. Animation also may be provided in response to a stylus orfinger used on a display window with a touchscreen. The touchscreen mayinclude, for example, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, anacoustic wave sensor, or an infrared sensor.

Referring to FIG. 11, a procedure 1100 for supporting navigation on adisplay includes providing a navigation control operable to change aviewable portion of a page of information on a display from a first viewto a second view (step 1105), permitting operation of the navigationcontrol to change the display from the first view to the second view(step 1110), and animating the display to create an appearance of motionas the viewable portion of the page of information changes from thefirst view to the second view (step 1115). Operation of the navigationcontrol may include operation of a device such as a mouse or trackball,use of a stylus, or use of a voice command.

Animation on the display may include one or more animation effects. Forexample, animating the display (step 1115) may include slowly scrollingor shifting the display content to give the display an appearance ofslow motion. In another implementation, animating the display (step1115) includes illustrating a visible portion of the page of informationmoving continuously on the display from the first view to the secondview. In a further implementation, animating the display (step 1115)includes drawing a line from the first view to the second view. In stilla further implementation, animation (step 1115) includes displaying areference marker moving from the first view to the second view. This maybe done, for example, using a separate window or portion of the display.In one implementation, the user selects a velocity at which to changethe viewable portion of the page from the first view to the second view.In another implementation, the user selects an acceleration at which tochange the viewable portion of the page of information from the firstview to the second view. The user also may select a constant or variablevelocity or acceleration. For example, the user may select a variablevelocity that begins scrolling the display slowly, picks up speed, andthen slows down again as the displayed portion approaches the secondview.

Referring to FIG. 12, on a stylus-based PDA, the user can use a stylus1200 to scroll a display window 1205 vertically down a page 1210 inorder to read a column 1215, 1220 or 1225 of text of the page 1205.However, referring to FIG. 13, vertical touch-and-drag scrolling has adrawback in that slight horizontal motion or “wobbling” of the pen 1200,as represented by the series of arrows 1230, can cause the text column1215, 1220, or 1225 to become misaligned on the display 1205, resultingin a misalignment between the column 1215, 1220, or 1225 and the displaywindow 1205. To correct for this and to view a desired one of thecolumns 1215, 1220, or 1225 in one view, the user manually centers thedesired column in the display window 1205 by making one or more left orright corrections to the stylus 1200.

Referring to FIG. 14A, a vertical alignment control, as represented bythe vertical bars 1400, can minimize wobble of the display 1205 duringvertical scrolling with the pen 1200. As the user scrolls the page up ordown with the stylus 1200, the vertical alignment control ignores slighthorizontal motion such that the text column 1220 remains aligned in thedisplay window 1205. This is based on the assumption that, when thewindow 1205 is positioned over a logical column 1220 and the user dragsthe pen up or down without significant horizontal motion, the intentionof the user is to view only the logical column 1220. Based on thisassumption, the alignment control constrains screen scrolling to thevertical direction as long as the stylus stays between the bars 1400.

The user can define the sensitivity of the vertical alignment control.For example, the user may specify a horizontal motion threshold (i.e.,the spacing between the bars 1400). If the threshold is not exceeded,any horizontal motion by the pen 1200 on the screen is ignored. If thethreshold is exceeded, the displayed text moves left or rightaccordingly. In one implementation, the user can adjust the sensitivityof the horizontal motion by establishing a threshold for a parametricnumber of pixels. The two vertical bars 1400 represent the threshold ofhorizontal motion, measured as the parametric amount of pixels, whichmust be exceeded to scroll the display window 1205 left or right. Thevertical alignment controls may be enabled or disabled by the user.

Referring to FIG. 14B, in another implementation, the vertical alignmentcontrol is enabled when the user lifts the pen 1200 from the display1205. This causes the logical column 1220 to snap into alignment withthe display window 1205 as the user stops scrolling. The user can adjustthe snap sensitivity by, for example, setting the alignment control tosnap to the nearest logical column based on a user-defined snapthreshold. If the user's scrolling does not exceed the threshold, whichindicates an intention to continue to view the text column 1220, thedisplay 1205 centers the logical column 1210 as the pen 1200 is liftedfrom the screen. If the user's scrolling exceeds the threshold, whichindicates an intention to move beyond the boundary of the logical column1220, the display is snapped to the adjacent or repositioned column. Inother implementations, no snapping occurs when the user's scrollingexceeds the threshold. The snap-on-column feature can also be animatedto provide an appearance of movement as the display scrolls to thecorrect column-viewing position.

A similar horizontal alignment control also may be provided. Such acontrol may be used to limit vertical movement when scrollinghorizontally in, for example, a spreadsheet application.

Referring to FIG. 15, a procedure 1500 for supporting navigation on adisplay includes tracking user motion of an input tool for a display(step 1505), comparing a motion of the input tool to a threshold (step1510), and constraining the position of the visible portion of the pageof information on the display if the user motion does not exceed thethreshold (step 1515). The input tool may be a stylus 1200 or fingerused on a display window 1205 with a touchscreen. The touchscreen mayinclude, for example, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, anacoustic wave sensor, or an infrared sensor.

The method 1500 may include separating the user motion of the input toolinto a horizontal component and a vertical component. The horizontalcomponent may be compared to the threshold to constrain horizontalmotion of the page 1210 in the display window 1205 if the horizontalcomponent does not exceed the threshold. Vertical motion may be leftunconstrained, or may be compared to the same or a different threshold.In other implementations, only vertical motion may be constrained.

Referring to FIG. 16, touch-and-drag scrolling of a display window 1600may be limited to the width and length of the display window. Forexample, as the user scrolls from left to right across the entire width1605 of the display 1600, the document slides across the screen adistance that is equal to the width 1605 of the display 1600. Thus,movement up, down, left, or right is limited to a distance that is equalto the length 1610 or width 1605 of the display 1600. The user must thenlift the pen or stylus from the screen and repeat the scrollingoperation.

Typical desktop computers can associate movement of the operating systemcursor with movement of the pointing device. In these systems, thecursor is both a software variable to detect user intentions and agraphic representation to provide the user with the location of thecursor. On a PDA, however, the cursor is not displayed on the screenbecause the tip of the pen already defines the location of the cursor.This location is forwarded to the application software by the operatingsystem.

The operating system uses drivers that convert the movement or theposition of the pointing device, which may be expressed in centimeters,to the movement of the cursor, which may be expressed in pixels. PDAsusually follow a paradigm inherited from the desktop computer, in thatmovement between the cursor is equivalent to movement of the document.Thus, the page scrolls an amount equal to the distance of the penmovement. For example, when the cursor moves 10 pixels, the documentscrolls 10 pixels.

On a PDA or other device with a small display, scrolling the width orlength of the display area provides viewing of only a small amount ofdocument data. The user often must repeat the scrolling operation untilthe desired text comes into view.

A scrolling multiplier allows the user to specify movement of thedocument on the display as a multiplier or percentage of the physicalmovement of the stylus on the display. For example, referring to FIG.17A, when the proportional movement is set to 200%, document scrolling1700 on a display 1705 is 20 pixels for each 10 pixels of stylus orother input movement 1710. When the proportional movement is set to 50%,the document scrolling is 5 pixels for each 10 pixels of stylus or otherinput movement on the display. Referring to FIG. 17B, when theproportional movement is set to 300%, the document scrolling 1715 is 30pixels for each 10 pixels of stylus or other input movement 1720 on thedisplay 1725.

As shown in FIG. 17A, when the proportional movement is set to 200% anda new display 1730 is centered around the endpoints 1735 of the maximumpotential document scrolling, the user has the capability to scroll adocument area that is nine times the area of the display window 1705.Similarly, as shown in FIG. 17B, when the proportional movement is setto 300% and a new display 1740 is centered around the endpoints 1745 ofthe maximum potential document scrolling, the user has the capability toscroll a document area that is 16 times the area of the display window1725. By contrast, when proportional movement is set to 100%, the useris able to scroll a document area that is four times the area of thedisplay window. Thus, increasing proportional movement provides the userwith the capability to scroll through several pages of the document witha single point-and-drag action. Alternatively, the user can make veryfine position adjustments by setting a multiplier that is less than one.

An additional benefit is the enhancement in the perceived responsivenessand scroll speed capability of the application software. Since with thesame action there is additional scrolling, the scrolling action appearsto occur at a higher velocity. Stated more simply, the motion of thedocument is perceived to be zippy instead of sluggish. In anotherimplementation, the user may set the multiplier based on the speed oracceleration of the pointing device. For example, a higher stylusvelocity translates into a higher multiplier to generate the appropriatenumber of pixels to move the cursor. In yet another implementation,different multipliers may be used for horizontal and vertical movement.

For illustrative purposes, FIG. 18 describes a communications system forimplementing a navigation aid to display information on an electronicdevice having limited display capability. For brevity, several elementsin FIG. 18 are represented as monolithic entities. However, as would beunderstood by one skilled in the art, these elements each may includenumerous interconnected computers and components designed to perform aset of specified operations and/or dedicated to a particulargeographical region.

Referring to FIG. 18, a communications system 1800 is capable ofdelivering and exchanging data between a client system 1805 and a hostsystem 1810 through a communications link 1815. The client system 1805typically includes one or more client devices 1820 and/or clientcontrollers 1825, and the host system 1810 typically includes one ormore host devices 1830 and/or host controllers 1835. For example, theclient system 1805 or the host system 1810 may include one or moregeneral-purpose computers (e.g., personal computers), one or morespecial-purpose computers (e.g., devices specifically programmed tocommunicate with each other and/or the client system 1805 or the hostsystem 1810), or a combination of one or more general-purpose computersand one or more special-purpose computers. The client system 1805 andthe host system 1810 may be arranged to operate within or in concertwith one or more other systems, such as, for example, one or more LANs(“Local Area Networks”) and/or one or more WANs (“Wide Area Networks”).

The client device 1820 (or the host device 1830) is generally capable ofexecuting instructions under the command of a client controller 1825 (ora host controller 1835) and is capable of processing instructions orqueries from the host system 1810. For example, the host system 1810 mayquery the client system 1805 as to the display size of the PDA device.The query may occur when the client 1805 and the host 1810 are connectedor at periodic time intervals. The client device 1820 (or the hostdevice 1830) is connected to the client controller 1825 (or the hostcontroller 1835) by a wired or wireless data pathway 1840 or 1845capable of delivering data.

Each of the client device 1820, the client controller 1825, the hostdevice 1830, and the host controller 1835 typically includes one or morehardware components and/or software components. An example of a clientdevice 1820 or a host device 1830 is a general-purpose computer (e.g., apersonal computer) capable of responding to and executing instructionsin a defined manner. Other examples include a special-purpose computer,a workstation, a server, a device, a component, other physical orvirtual equipment or some combination thereof capable of responding toand executing instructions. Often, the client device 1820 is implementedas a PDA or a mobile telephone.

An example of client controller 1825 or a host controller 1835 is asoftware application loaded on the client device 1820 or the host device1830 for commanding and directing communications enabled by the clientdevice 1820 or the host device 1830. Other examples include a program, apiece of code, an instruction, a device, a computer, a computer system,or a combination thereof, for independently or collectively instructingthe client device 1820 or the host device 1830 to interact and operateas described. The client controller 1825 and the host controller 1835may be embodied permanently or temporarily in any type of machine,component, physical or virtual equipment, storage medium, or propagatedsignal capable of providing instructions to the client device 1820 orthe host device 1830.

The communications link 1815 typically includes a delivery network 1850making a direct or indirect communication between the client system 1805and the host system 1810, irrespective of physical separation. Examplesof a delivery network 1850 include the Internet, the World Wide Web,WANs, LANs, analog or digital wired and wireless telephone networks(e.g., PSTN, ISDN, and xDSL), radio, television, cable, satellite,and/or any other delivery mechanism for carrying data. Thecommunications link 1850 may include communication pathways 1855, 1860that enable communications through the one or more delivery networks1850 described above. Each of the communication pathways 1855, 1860 mayinclude, for example, a wired, wireless, cable or satellitecommunication pathway.

The described processes and techniques may be performed by a browserrunning on the client system 1805 (e.g., a PDA). The processes andtechniques also may be performed at a host or other remote device (e.g.,a server) through which a web page is passed or from which a web page isreceived. The processes and techniques may be applied both to largedisplays and to small displays, to display windows that occupy varyingportions of a display, and to full screen displays.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

1. A method of navigating on a portable display, the method comprising:providing a navigation control operable to change a fixed and moveableviewable portion of a single page of information on the display from afirst view to a second view, wherein: the single page of informationincludes more than one column of information, and the navigation controlincludes at least one selectable column icon representing each column ofinformation within the single page of information and each column iconrepresenting a specific column position on the single page ofinformation; actuating one of column icons, in response to operation ofthe navigation control to change the viewable portion of the single pageof information on the display from the first view to the second view,wherein: the second view makes perceivable a column of information thatis associated with the actuated column icon, and the second view isoutside of the viewable portion displayed in the first view; animatingthe display to create an appearance of motion as the viewable portion ofthe single page of information changes from the first view to the secondview in response to the operation of the navigation control; andmaintaining the relative positions of the columns of information withinthe single page of information as the viewable portion of the singlepage of information changes from the first view to the second view. 2.The method of claim 1 wherein: the at least one selectable column iconincludes a first column icon corresponding to the first view and asecond column icon corresponding to the second view; and actuation ofthe first column icon positions the viewable portion of the single pageof information on the display at the first view and actuation of thesecond column icon positions the viewable portion of the single page ofinformation at the second view.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein thefirst view includes a first discrete area on the single page ofinformation and the second view includes a second discrete area on thesingle page of information such that actuation of the first column iconpositions the viewable portion on the single page of information to viewthe first discrete area and actuation of the second colunm iconpositions the viewable portion on the single page of information to viewthe second discrete area.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein animating thedisplay includes shifting the viewable portion of the single page ofinformation on the display in a horizontal direction.
 5. The method ofclaim 4 further comprising reformatting the single page of informationinto more than one logical column with each logical column having acorresponding column icon such that the operation of the navigationcontrol includes actuating the column icon to view the correspondinglogical column.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the operation of thenavigation control includes clicking a mouse.
 7. The method of claim 1wherein the operation of the navigation control includes touching astylus to a touchscreen.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein animating thedisplay includes slowly scrolling the display to give the display anappearance of slow motion.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein animatingthe display includes illustrating the viewable portion of the singlepage of information moving continuously on the display from the firstview to the second view.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein animating thedisplay includes drawing a line from the first view to the second view.11. The method of claim 1 further comprising opening a window on thedisplay that shows a reference marker moving from the first view to thesecond view.
 12. The method of claim 1 further comprising operating thenavigation control in response to enunciation of a voice command. 13.The method of claim 1 wherein the single page of information includes aWeb page coded in HTML such that operating the navigation controlchanges the viewable portion of the Web page on the display from thefirst view to the second view.
 14. The method of claim 1 whereinanimating the display includes gradually shifting content on the singlepage of information from the first view to the second view.
 15. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising providing a user-defined controlsuch that animating the display further includes controlling animationwith the user-defined control.
 16. The method of claim 15 whereincontrolling the animation with the user-defined control includesselecting a time interval to change the viewable portion of the singlepage of information on the display from the first view to the secondview.
 17. The method of claim 15 wherein controlling the animation withthe user-defined control includes selecting a velocity to change theviewable portion of the single page of information on the display fromthe first view to the second view.
 18. The method of claim 17 whereinselecting the velocity includes selecting a constant velocity during thechange in the viewable portion of the single page of information on thedisplay from the first view to the second view.
 19. The method of claim17 wherein selecting the velocity includes selecting a variable velocityduring the change in the viewable portion of the single page ofinformation on the display from the first view to the second view. 20.The method of claim 15 wherein controlling the animation with theuser-defined control includes selecting an acceleration to change theviewable portion of the single page of information on the display fromthe first view to the second view.
 21. The method of claim 20 whereinselecting the acceleration includes selecting a constant accelerationduring the change in the viewable portion of the single page ofinformation on the display from the first view to the second view. 22.The method of claim 20 wherein selecting the acceleration includesselecting a variable acceleration during the change in the viewableportion of the single page of information on the display from the firstview to the second view.
 23. A computer-readable storage medium fornavigating on a portable display, the computer-readable mediumcomprising instructions for causing a computer system to: provide anavigation control operable to change a fixed and moveable viewableportion of a single page of information on a display from a first viewto a second view, wherein: the single page of information includes morethan one column of information, and the navigation control includes atleast one selectable column icon representing each column of informationwithin the single page of information and each column icon representinga specific column position on the single page of information; actuateone of column icons when the navigation control is operated to changethe viewable portion of the single page of information on the displayfrom the first view to the second view, wherein: the second view makesperceivable a column of information that is associated with the actuatedcolumn icon, and the second view is outside of the viewable portiondisplayed in the first view; animate the display when the navigationcontrol is operated to create an appearance of motion as the viewableportion of the single page of information changes from the first view tothe second view; and maintain the relative positions of the columns ofinformation within the single page of information as the viewableportion of the single page of information changes from the first view tothe second view.
 24. The medium of claim 23 wherein the at least oneselectable column icon includes a first colunm icon corresponding to thefirst view and a second column icon corresponding to the second view andfurther comprising instructions for positioning the viewable portion ofthe single page of information on the display at the first view inresponse to actuation of the first column icon and at the second view inresponse to actuation of the second column icon.
 25. The medium of claim24 wherein the first view includes a first discrete area on the singlepage of information and the second view includes a second discrete areaon the single page of information and further comprising instructionsfor positioning the viewable portion on the single page of informationto view the first discrete area in response to actuation of the firstcolumn icon and to view the second discrete area m response to actuationof the second column icon.
 26. The medium of claim 23 further comprisinginstructions to shift the viewable portion of the single page ofinformation on the display in a horizontal direction from the first viewto the second view when the navigation control is operated.
 27. Themedium of claim 23 further comprising instructions to reformat thesingle page of information into more than one logical column, with eachcolumn having a corresponding column icon, and instructions forpositioning the logical column on the display when the correspondingcolumn icon is actuated.
 28. The medium of claim 23 further comprisinginstructions to operate the navigation control in response to clickingof a mouse on a defined area of the display.
 29. The medium of claim 23further comprising instructions to operate the navigation control inresponse to touching of a stylus to a reference icon on a touchscreen.30. The medium of claim 23 wherein the instructions to animate thedisplay include instructions to illustrate the viewable portion of thesingle page of information moving continuously on the display from thefirst view to the second view.
 31. The medium of claim 23 furthercomprising instructions to open on the display a window that shows areference marker moving from the first view to the second view.
 32. Themedium of claim 23 wherein the single page of information includes a Webpage coded in hyper text markup link language such that operating thenavigation control changes the viewable portion of the Web page on thedisplay from the first view to the second view.
 33. The medium of claim23 wherein instructions to animate the display include instructions togradually shift content on the single page of information from the firstview to the second view.
 34. The medium of claim 23 further comprisinginstructions to provide a user-defined control such that animating thedisplay further includes controlling animation with the user-definedcontrol.
 35. The medium of claim 34 wherein instructions for controllingthe animation with the user-defined control include instructions forselecting a velocity at which to change the viewable portion of thesingle page of information on the display from the first view to thesecond view.
 36. A system for navigating on a portable display, thesystem comprising: a display surface; a navigation control on thedisplay; and a processor operable to: change a fixed and moveableviewable portion of a single page of information on the display from afirst view to a second view when the navigation control is operated,wherein: the single page of information includes more than one column ofinformation, and the navigation control includes at least one selectablecolumn icon representing each column of information within the singlepage of information and each column icon representing a specific columnposition on the single page of information; actuate one of column icons,in response to operation of the navigation control, to change theviewable portion of the single page of information on the display fromthe first view to the second view, wherein: the second view makesperceivable a column of information that is associated with the actuatedcolumn icon, and the second view is outside of the viewable portiondisplayed in the first view; animate the display to create an appearanceof motion as the viewable portion of the single page of information onthe display changes from the first view to the second view; and maintainthe relative positions of the columns of information within the singlepage of information as the viewable portion of the single page ofinformation changes from the first view to the second view.
 37. Thesystem of claim 36 wherein: the at least one selectable column iconincludes a first colunm icon corresponding to the first view and asecond column icon corresponding to the second view; and the processoris operable to position the viewable portion of the single page ofinformation on the display at the first view when the first column iconis actuated and at the second view when the second column icon isactuated.
 38. The system of claim 36 wherein the processor is operableto move the viewable portion of the single page of information on thedisplay in a horizontal direction from the first view to the second viewwhen the navigation control is operated.
 39. The system of claim 36wherein the processor is operable to: reformat the single page ofinformation into more than one logical colunm each having acorresponding column icon, the logical column having a width notexceeding a width of the display; and position the logical column forviewing on the display when the column icon corresponding to the logicalcolumn is actuated.
 40. The system of claim 36 wherein the processor isoperable to animate the display by illustrating the viewable portion ofthe single page of information moving continuously on the display fromthe first view to the second view.
 41. The system of claim 36 whereinthe system further includes a personal digital assistant including theprocessor and the display.
 42. The system of claim 36 wherein the systemfurther includes a hand-held computer including the processor and thedisplay.